American comics: Starting in Arkham, a system-based Batman

Chapter 1 Arkham VIP 1

"Name?"

"...Jung Eun".

When the police officer with the hooked nose asked him a question, Jung Eun almost couldn't answer. His English was already bad, and he had completely forgotten it after graduating.

He is currently handcuffed, and in front of him are two police officers, one with a hooked nose and the other with a large belly. The three of them are gathered in front of a food truck.

The pot-bellied police officer had just finished talking to the stall owner when he turned to Zheng En and mumbled a string of words. Zheng En could only stare at him blankly, and after a long while, he finally managed to utter, "I don't understand."

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a crackling sound, like an electric current, in his head, and the surrounding scenery gradually became subtle.

Before he could figure out what went wrong, he saw the two officers exchange a glance, and the hook-nosed officer raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"He's Asian, doesn't speak the language, and judging by his appearance, he probably only knows two words. I knew he was an illegal immigrant."

...Now that I understand, I can also understand the meaning of the English words around me.

The voice in my mind rang intermittently.

System loading... Language module loaded... Task module loading...

While listening to the voices in her head, Zheng En also paid attention to the conversations among the police officers.

The pot-bellied police officer took the two hot dogs offered by the stall owner. "Not bad, buddy, you have a good eye."

He handed one to the hook-nosed man, saying, "After he finishes this, let's take him to the police station, check him out, and then deport him."

"The police station? No, Harvey, I have a better idea."

The hook-nosed officer put his hand on the belly-bellied man's shoulder. "We've been partners for a while now, and I know you're someone I can trust."

He pulled out his gun and waved it in front of Zheng En, then beckoned to Zheng En to follow them.

As they left, the vendor in the cart couldn't help but speak up, "Hey, officers! Did you forget something?"

"Oh? Really?" The hook-nosed officer brandished the gun he hadn't yet put away. "Indeed, this hot dog is good. We'll come again next time."

Zheng En glanced back at the stall owner, who had a typical American redneck look and a grim expression that made it seem like he was about to pull out a gun and shoot.

He couldn't help but take a few more glances, and then he saw the other person take something out of their pocket.

"Bang! Bang!"

No, man, are you really going to shoot?

Zheng En scrambled to the back of the car with the police officers, still able to hear the stall owner's angry curses, "You dare to eat for free here? You want a bullet!"

"Holy crap, where did this lunatic come from! He actually attacked a police officer for a hot dog!"

The man with the hooked nose cursed and fired at the stall owner under the cover of the police car, while the man with the big belly took the opportunity to open the car door, shouting, "Quick, quick, quick!"

As Zheng En followed them into the police car, he couldn't help but think to himself: "They were two hot dogs."

As soon as the car door closed, the police car drifted out of the intersection. Jung Eun, who hadn't even settled in properly, tumbled onto the car in a disheveled state. Looking out the window, the gray sky looked like it was about to drizzle.

A large letter W is embedded on a tall building in the distance, reflecting a faint light under the dark sky.

The hook-nosed officer in the car was still cursing, while the pot-bellied police officer sighed helplessly, "I told you the East District is full of lunatics."

He glanced at the road outside, completely ignoring the shooting that had just taken him so seriously. "Marshall, where exactly are you planning to take him? Surely not to sink into Gotham Bay?"

Zheng En keenly caught the word "Gotham" in the words, and his heart skipped a beat, but he was still resisting accepting reality and holding onto a sliver of delusion.

Surely not...

Although the police officers here are unreasonable and will randomly grab someone on the street and start questioning them, resulting in his immediate arrest and death, and that they will not pay for his meal and will threaten him with a gun.

Although the police officers and the stall owner are crazy guys who would passionately shoot each other over two hot dogs;

But he couldn't really be that unlucky...

"boom--"

The loud explosions were so loud they hurt your ears. The hook-nosed officer jerked the steering wheel and swerved sharply, speeding away from the chaotic streets.

"You'll see when we get there!" he yelled. "Damn it, what's going on over there now!"

"That's the direction of the bank," the pot-bellied police officer calmly analyzed. "The vault was probably blown up."

"Damn it!"

Jung Eun's mind was clear from the impact.

This is indeed Gotham, and this is very Gotham.

He really did time travel, and he even traveled into Gotham City in DC Comics, a city full of criminals and psychopaths!

He watched the scenery outside the police car constantly change, from the city center to the bridge, and then to a sparsely populated area, where the scenery became increasingly desolate.

As they got closer to the buildings at the end of the road, the officer called Harvey muttered to himself, "Hey, seriously...?"

His voice was very soft, as if he was afraid of being overheard by the person in front of him. Zheng En glanced at him discreetly and began to guess his identity.

Harvey is a common name; the famous two-faced Harvey Dent and Gordon's partner Harvey Block are both named Harvey.

The latter is often portrayed as having a nasty exterior but a kind heart, and works with Gordon in a "good cop, bad cop" routine to solve cases.

Could it be Harvey Bullock? But what about Gordon? Has he not appeared yet, or is it just a coincidence that he shares the same name?

While I was thinking, the police car arrived at the building entrance in the blink of an eye.

The surrounding area was filled with tangled weeds and withered trees, and the buildings in front of it appeared gray against the backdrop of the sky.

A few letters hang above the door—Arkham Asylum.

Jung Eun couldn't hold back anymore.

He stood rooted to the spot, unwilling to take another step forward.

Anyone with even a slight understanding of DC Comics knows the legendary name of Arkham: Joker, Riddler, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze... It's truly a gathering of heroes and geniuses.

Several heavy stones were carved into large characters, weighing heavily on his heart.

Front, front, already, ground, prison.

"Bang!"

A shot unexpectedly struck near Zheng En's feet. He instinctively dodged to the side and then turned sharply to find the source of the gunshot.

Smoke billowed from the gun barrels, and the hook-nosed officer blew on the muzzle. "Let's go, Harvey."

Zheng En then noticed that the pot-bellied police officer was also standing still.

Harvey chuckled awkwardly. "Of course, Marshall, I just didn't expect to come here."

"Marshall's shot just now was clearly not just for me," Zheng En thought. "Whether Harvey is good or bad, it doesn't seem to be helping him."

The sounds in my head had stopped for a long time, as if what I had heard before was just a hallucination.

Reluctantly following the police officers through the gates of Arkham, Jung Eun-jae heard the same electronic voice again.

[Life Simulator loaded]

[Loading your system mentor]

[His self-identification is identified as—Batman—]

What?

Batman?

real or fake?

Zheng En could understand the concept of a system; it was a standard feature for time travelers. But Batman?

That American comic book character is always in the top three in popularity, a superhero who has been going head-to-head with Spider-Man and Superman for years, the father of DC, the Dark Knight, the masked vigilante, the world's greatest detective, a billionaire, a playboy, an entrepreneur, a philanthropist...

Wait, wait, wait, there's not enough room for so many people here.

A sense of absurdity arose in Zheng En's heart. Was this really a system, or just his fantasy?

"Maybe I really should go to Arkham to calm down," Jung Eun thought irrationally.

[System guidance for teachers has finished loading]

As the electronic voice ended, Jung Eun sensed that something had subtly changed. But nothing made a sound in his mind, as if the other party was also quietly observing its surroundings.

He tentatively asked himself, "Who are you?"

A voice, like that of someone with throat cancer, echoed in his mind.

"I am Batman."